In the first part, the study analyzed personal dating advertisements on Yahoo! from 455 men and 470 women throughout the United States.

These results showed that 13.5 percent of the men wanted to date only women who were shorter than they were, while nearly half the women -- 48.9 percent -- wanted to date only taller men.

"Evolutionary psychology theory argues that similarity is overwhelmingly the rule in human mating," Emerson said in a prepared statement.

Emerson is Rice's Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology as well as co-director of Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

The study's second part included open-ended questions answered online by 54 men, whose average height was 5 feet 9 inches, and 131 women, at an average height of 5 feet 4 inches, according to the release.

Emerson and Yancey, who have also teamed up on studies of race and religion, found that femininity and protection were the main reasons women cited for preferring a tall partner.

A female respondent, 5 feet 3 inches, said in the online survey, "As the girl, I like to feel delicate and secure at the same time. Something just feels weird in thinking about looking 'down' into my man's eyes."

The same woman also said she liked to wear high heels and still be shorter than her partner.

"I also want to be able to hug him with my arms reaching up and around his neck," the respondent said.

Men were less likely to say height mattered. Those who did, said they preferred shorter women but not so short as to make physical intimacy problematic, according to the release.

Yancey, the study's lead author, said the finding that height is more important to women supports patriarchy, in which men are the main authority figures.

"The masculine ability to offer physical protection is clearly connected to the gender stereotype of men as protectors," Yancey said. "And in a society that encourages men to be dominant and women to be submissive, having the image of tall men hovering over short women reinforces this value."